A sure thing (002)

wildlife interaction | oslob |philippines

TEXT AND IMAGES © ALAN WIGGS 2016

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ut twice now I’ve visited Oslob, a fishing town turned tourist trap in Cebu to spend some time up close with these gentle giants. Whether or not this is ‘quality’ time is up to you to decide but the appeal here is undeniable: a guaranteed sighting of multiple whale sharks. In the few years this has been running, the sharks have only disappeared on a couple of occasions when large storms punched through.

I’VE DIVED WITH THESE GREAT SPOTTED BEASTS SEVERAL TIMES IN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND THEY STILL TAKE MY BREATH AWAY. THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT WHALE SHARKS WHICH DRAWS ME IN. RECENTLY IN THE MALDIVES WE FINNED ALONGSIDE A FAST MOVING BUTANDING IN OPEN OCEAN; IT WAS GONE IN A FEW SWEEPS OF ITS MIGHTY TAIL AFTER ONE OR TWO HASTY IMAGES.

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The purpose of this article is to inform about the experience, not to preach. And a new study released by Odyssea Marine Research and LAMAVE (Large Marine Vertebrate project) goes some way towards quantifying the impact of whale shark tourism in Oslob. (Schleimer at al 2015 – Learning from a provisioning site: code of conduct and compliance and behaviour of Whale Sharks in Oslob, Cebu, Philippines).

It all started back around October 2011, when local fishermen developed an unusual relationship with a large number of butanding. The whale sharks feed on shrimp, or uyap, over the local reefs and had started to follow the fishermen catching juvenile shrimp during the evenings.

The shrimp rise with the moon and move into the shallows, followed by feeding whale sharks that move right into the shoreline. A few casual handfuls of uyap offered to these gentle giants established a pattern of behaviour which continues.

Local authorities soon realised the tourist potential this attraction offered, and it wasn’t long before word got out. Things rapidly escalated and soon Oslob was bursting at the seams. There were reports of up to 2000 people arriving in one day; clumsy touching and harassment, and finally a photo of a young lady standing (yes, standing!) on the back of a whale shark (the photo wasn’t actually from Oslob – but it could have been).

Management guidelines were soon introduced that were amongst the most stringent anywhere, though application and reinforcement were slow to develop. One of the biggest steps was to simply reduce numbers by hiking up Marine Park fees, effectively pricing out a lot of the locals (sad in some respects, but there were just too many people!) An Education Centre was set up to brief snorkellers on guidelines which include the obvious ones such as no touching, no flash photography and a minimum distance of five metres from fuselage and two metres from the front of the whale shark. Power boats of any kind were prohibited in the Marine Park and the restriction of 30 minutes inwater also helped to reduce crowding, with all feeding and tourist activities ending daily at 1:00 p.m.

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were happily interacting with whale sharks with the impacts dispersed over quite some area along the coast. It could even be considered eco-tourism as some rudimentary education at the visitor centre on whale sharks was part of the deal. Biologists could also partake of a ‘unique opportunity to study the behaviour of these otherwise elusive species’ (Schleimer et al 2015).

paddled in to the vacant space. Action inside the circle caused problems; it was quite choppy and boats were bouncing around with snorkelers bobbing merrily, laughing and shouting. Inside the ring of boats, the tiny one-man provisioning canoes paddled slowly and snorkelers had to be careful to avoid a bump on the head as a holiday souvenir. Whale sharks zoomed to and fro, often very close to snorkelers, sometimes forcing us to backtrack or take evasive action!

Instructions were yelled from the canoes – “Watch out!” as yet another shark

code of conduct from 79% in 2012 to a disturbing 97% in 2014. This suggests increased tourist pressure, though I feel concentrating all tourists in a central location may be partly to blame – previously they’d been scattered and more dispersed. So much chaotic activity risks potential conflict between whale sharks, canoes and snorkelers and makes it more difficult for the guides to monitor and control tourist behaviour.

Another area investigated in the Lamave/ Odyssea study was observed behavioural modifications, with an increase in the

resort forbids their guests from visiting the ‘atrocity’ as the manager calls it.

Fair enough – people should have strong opinions on the issue, but based on research and experience.

barged through. I’ll never forget the boat of giggling Taiwanese tourists in their life jackets, donning mask and snorkels and taking selfies, without getting wet at any stage! Nor will I forget the young man who blithely snorkelled down and grabbed the dorsal fin of a whale shark despite this being forbidden. The recent Lamave/Odyssea study found an increase in non-compliance with the

tendency for sharks to feed vertically, gulping in mouthfuls of water and uyap from the provisioning canoes. But while this may not look ‘natural’, the study concludes that the long term impacts of this are unknown ‘along with the (effects of) high tourism pressure’. In fact, it is difficult to quantify any significant negative impacts at this stage. The Oslob event is not popular with everyone – one

enforced and the study recommends a reduction in tourism pressure and provisioning to reduce the ‘conditioning’ of the whale sharks.

The study adds that, regardless, management guidelines should take a conservative approach to preventative actions even if cause and effect data is inconclusive. Clearly there are concerns which need to be addressed, though alarm bells aren’t ringing here yet. But the guidelines are not being consistently

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The benefits to Oslob locals are obvious – a construction boom with upscaled tourists facilities, shops selling sharky

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MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES SHOULD TAKE A CONSERVATIVE APPROACH TO PREVENTATIVE ACTIONS EVEN IF CAUSE AND EFFECT DATA IS INCONCLUSIVE

I first travelled to Oslob in 2012 when the event had just begun. The newly introduced management guidelines appeared to be working reasonably well on the day we visited. There was no overcrowding, no chaos, no tourists blundering into whale sharks, though it seemed the sharks were free to blunder into us! The provisioning site covered over a kilometre of the bay, and there were four or five little feeding stations a few hundred metres offshore with roughly a dozen tourists at each. People

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trinkets, and small restaurants and backpacker units have sprung up in the bay. In 2014, 110,000 tourists visited the area with nearly 300 staff working at the provisioning site. It’s become a ‘bucket list’ experience for many from all around the world, largely staying on Cebu, Negros and Bohol.

Like all eco-tourism experiences, there’s costs and benefits. The costs may include disruptions to migration routes and increasing reliance on human provisioning. The latter is unlikely though, as only a few kilograms per shark are distributed as a taste-tempter rather than a replacement diet; studies indicate that most butanding do move on, with a minority taking up residency as such. The real question is ‘How sustainable is this?’

On my second visit to Oslob in July 2015 I again stayed at the Atmosphere Resorts, Dumaguete. This time tourist numbers seemed to have risen astronomically and overcrowding diminished the experience for us all. Structural management had changed: all boats joined together in a huge, buoyed circle about 50 metres wide; as one boat finished another

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Oslob certainly has a lot to offer and is a beautiful site – apart from the whale sharks, the reef is healthy and fish life is thriving. The Odyssea/Lamave study is extremely well referenced though, and www.sportdiving.com.au

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draws comparisons with other shark provisioning sites elsewhere in the world.

It’s a cost benefit exercise, and this tourist based activity is clearly more sustainable than whale sharks being butchered for meat, as occurred in China as recently as August 2015 (where the term Tofu Shark is still in use). I think everyone witnessing the magical grace of these great creatures will take steps to safeguard their survival.

It may not be ideal, but the whale sharks of Oslob could develop into a model of sustainable tourism given improved management and better enforcement of existing guidelines. Would I recommend it? Cautiously, yes – and then make up your own mind.

Reference: Schleimer at al 2015 – Learning from a provisioning site: code of conduct and compliance and behaviour of Whale Sharks in Oslob, Cebu, Philippines http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC4671167/

> LINKS:

www.tourismphilippines.com.au www.experiencephilippines.org www.lamave.org

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Lamave/Odyssea Study partnership The Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE Research Institute) is a non-stock non-profit company registered in the Philippines (Company Reg. No. CN201425897).

The LAMAVE Research Institute was founded in 2014 by the Filipino members of the research team to develop social responsibility and build local capacity. The LAMAVE Research Institute collaborates with local and national authorities and works in cooperation with communities to ensure continued conservation work in the Philippines. www.lamave.org The ODYSSEA association is the first Luxembourgish organization concentrating on marine biology and other oceanic matters. It was founded in 2013 by marine biologists and offers internships as well as educational trips in order to provide a better understanding about the marine environment. Besides organizing scuba diving trips, Odyssea gives the opportunity to actively participate in research projects on whales and dolphins.

Some of the Odyssea team have worked with LAMAVE over the years.

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